Tolkien's Impact in Literature and Life

Tolkien saw himself as a hobbit in every way but in stature.

By Patrick W. Curles

PCANews - A popular British magazine recently
surveyed its readers to get their opinions about
the best book of all time. Thousands responded.
The landslide winner for the top spot in history:
The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R.
Tolkien.

The literary elites were incensed and amazed.
How could a fantasy writer win? They re-polled the
country, and again Tolkien's work blew away the
competition. Again they asked the public, and for
a third straight time the public was very clear,
Tolkien was their favorite. I, for one, couldn't
agree more with this assessment.

J. R. R. Tolkien was born in South Africa in
1892. His father died shortly after his younger
brother was born, so his mother was forced to
raise the both of them by herself. To complicate
matters, Tolkien's mother converted to the Roman
Catholic Church and was thereupon banished from
much of her family and their support. A few years
later his mother also died, leaving the boys to be
raised by her parish priest.

Tolkien proceeded through school in a fairly
unremarkable way except for his unusual giftedness
in languages - not just in speaking them,
but understanding how they worked. Some children
make up their own words - Tolkien made up his own
languages. He pursued this love of words through
studies at Oxford and later returned to teach
philology there. He remains one of Oxford's most
celebrated professors. Through his study of
languages he became exposed to the mythologies of
the world. He wrote The Lord of the
Rings, he later said, to give England her own
myth.

The setting for this myth is Middle Earth, a
land Tolkien first described to the world in
The Hobbit, a work he first wrote for his
children. The story is about Bilbo Baggins, an
unassuming hobbit that gets swept into an
adventure (much to his chagrin) with thirteen
dwarves and a wizard. (Hobbits are man-like
creatures about half the size of a normal human.
They live in holes, usually; they love to eat,
garden, and give gifts. Most of all, they love to
stay home.) Along the way Bilbo becomes the owner
of a magic ring that became the center of
Tolkien's masterpiece. The Lord of the
Rings is an epic tale about the ring and how
it fits into history.

Tolkien's work has impacted me like no other
author. Though many people recognize the quality
and contributions of Tolkien's work to the world,
there are a few things, in particular, about his
life and work that have import for me.

One is Tolkien's view of myth. Though most
people see a myth as a story of something untrue,
Tolkien saw myth as the exact opposite. His great
friend C. S. Lewis once objected to Tolkien that,
"...myths are lies, though lies breathed through
silver." "No," said Tolkien, "they are not."

There are truths, Tolkien said, that are beyond
us, transcendent truths, about beauty, truth,
honor, etc. There are truths that man knows exist,
but they cannot be seen - they are immaterial, but
no less real, to us. It is only through the
language of myth that we can speak of these
truths. We have come from God, Tolkien said, and
only through myth, through story telling, can we
aspire to the life we were made for with God. To
write and/or read myth, Tolkien believed, was to
meditate on the most important truths of life.

Tolkien believed that what he wrote in The
Lord of the Rings was true, not in the sense
that the events really happened, but in the sense
that they portrayed truth to us in a way that
everyday events could not. After reading a bit of
his work a friend asked him how the story would
end. Tolkien responded, "I don't know. I shall try
to find out." He felt that he was uncovering the
truth already there, only hidden.

It was Tolkien's view of myth that that most
aided C. S. Lewis in his pilgrimage to accept
Christianity. All the other myths of the world,
Tolkien said, are a mixture of truth and error -
truth because they are written by those made by
and for God - error because written by those
alienated by God. But the Bible is the one true
myth. It is a true accounting of truth, while
everything else we do is mimicking. This
perspective was decisive in Lewis' conversion to
Christianity.

The second notable thing for me is Tolkien's
value of friendship. It is a notable
characteristic of his work and his life. In the
LOTR, this is seen most notably in the friendships
of Frodo and Sam and Frodo and Aragorn. In his
life, this is seen in his friendship with C. S.
Lewis. Friendships are gifts, not so much made,
but given to us. Friendship occurs when two people
meet who share a common perspective, experience,
insight, treasure, or burden. There is a bond that
occurs that brings them beyond mere acquaintances
to friends. And that friendship should be
cherished.

Tolkien and Lewis certainly did cherish theirs.
They were together at least three times per week:
on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings with the
other "Inklings" (a literary circle of friends),
and at least one other day for lunch. Tolkien
wrote, "Friendship with Lewis compensates for
much, and besides giving constant pleasure and
comfort has done me much good from the contact
with a man at once honest, brave, intellectual - a
scholar, a poet, and a philosopher - and a lover,
at least after a long pilgrimage, of Our Lord."
Tolkien saw that the value of friends was not just
that they stand with you, but that they stand with
you and see the same things as you.

Third, Tolkien's values, again in life and in
work, encourage me. Tolkien saw himself as a
hobbit in every way but in stature. He loved to
eat (hobbits prefer six meals a day). He loved
gardening, trees and long walks in the country. He
loved pipes, stories and friends. He loved his
family and preferred being at home to travel. He
was jovial, kindhearted and generous. He was a
devout Roman Catholic. He didn't set out to change
the world, he set out to live the life he had been
given in obedience to God.

Like Lewis, Tolkien believed that home, family,
and our labors were the heart of our lives. And
for him labor included all his work, not just that
he was paid for. He normally ate all three meals
and had tea at home with his family. He rarely
traveled, but ate and smoked a lot. For him, home,
family, and labor were godly things that pleased
God more than any "good work" could.

The LOTR ends in a hobbit's home. Some have
thought the ending anticlimactic given the grand
scope of the epic. But this merely highlights
that, for Tolkien, all the wars, heroism, and
great acts of bravery are not nearly so valuable
and praiseworthy as what goes on in the simple
day-to-day events of our lives. We fight exciting
wars so that we can lead boring lives.

Lastly, Tolkien's life was dominated by his
vision of the future - not a vision of what he
would do for God, but what God would do for him.
His mind was occupied with, what Calvin called, a
"meditation on the afterlife." He was fully aware
and confident that "this light, momentary
affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight
of glory beyond all comparison."

Like Lewis, he felt that the fact that we long
for something more is proof to us that there is
something more for us. He wrote to a friend: "We
were born in a dark age out of due time for us.
But there is this comfort: otherwise we should not
know, or so much love, what we do love. I imagine
the fish out of water is the only fish to have an
inkling of water." Christians are fish out of
water, living outside their environment. We are
pilgrims, aliens, exiles, who soon will go home.

In December the first of three Lord of the
Rings movies will be released. The other two
will be released the next two Decembers. Why
mention this now? Well, if you haven't read it,
now you have time to do so before the movie is
released. As for me, I'll be standing in line in
August.